Good Lust

There are very few things more important to an understanding of the meaning and potential of our lives than our "core passions" or our "core desires." Some of those passions and desires are inborn, built into us from birth, and reflect the temporary nature of God's good creation affected by human sin. Other passions and desires are an evidence of the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, showing aspects of the heart of God. 

I have often contemplated how all of this works in our daily lives. You could call it "lust management." The old English word "lust" is just another word for "desire," used both positively and negatively in the Bible. When it is used negatively, it refers to the desires that are part of the temporary world system and the ways living in that system affects our hearts, minds and bodies. In fact, those temporary desires tend to rule our lives, becoming compulsive, controlling impulses. 

Paul refer to the "desires of the flesh" running their course in order to be fully gratified (Galatians 5:16). He taught that our "old self" (before Christ) is corrupted "by its deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22). He refers to "sensual desires" (1 Timothy 5:11), "harmful desires" (1 Timothy 6:9), and "evil desires" (2 Timothy 2:22). In fact, Paul clarifies that harmful desires are simply a matter of fallen human beings acting "to suit their own desires" (2 Timothy 4:3), or as we used to say, "doing their own thing." 

This seems to be a central theme of the New Testament. In fact, the whole of Scripture as well as the writings of the early "apostolic fathers" repeatedly returned to the contrast between "the two ways." Our mortal existence in a fallen world lends itself to certain root desires that, when left to themselves to run their course, result in despair and death. For that reason, the apostle Paul goes to great lengths to describe the difference between "the works of the flesh" and "the fruit of the Spirit." But it is the apostle John who gives us the classic summary of our condition.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:15-17).

John makes it clear that our core passions and desires that arise as a result of our existence in a fallen world can be summarized under three headings. Desires centered in our body, desires centered in our mind and eyes, and a self-centered pretentious, arrogant boasting about our lives. All three are desires that are passing away in a context that is passing away, desires arising out of our flesh-bound, world-bound lives. On the other hand, one who does the will, who lives out the desires of God, will experience abundant, full, eternal life. 

John's summary reminds me of a profoundly important passage in the prophet Jeremiah. "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom / or the strong boast of their strength / or the rich boast of their riches" (Jeremiah 9:23). John referred to the tending to boast about who we are and what we have, and the prophet Jeremiah, speaking for the Lord, refers to boasting in three areas of life. These are things we tend to be proud of, and the ways we even judge the relative worth of others. If you have a large amount of intelligence, power and wealth, then you are considered important and even superior in our world system. For Jeremiah - for the Lord - all such boasting, based on the things we consider important in life, is futile, because they are temporary conditions, causes of boasting that will fade away and ultimately be gone.

And yet, the Lord wants us to have legitimate reasons for boasting, a boasting based on God's eternal character and glory. "But let the ones who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me" (Jeremiah 9:24). The Lord is raising the value of understanding and knowing him. "Understanding" God means to focus the mind on God, to attend to God, and to allow that focus to become wisdom from God. "Knowing" God means to know him personally and experientially, to know God relationally and intimately. After all, knowing God is eternal life (John 17:3). 

I find it interesting that the word for "boast" in Jeremiah is the word usually translated "praise" (Hebrew hallal).  We tend to value and praise those who are intelligent, powerful and wealthy. Very seldom (if ever) do we take the time to value and praise people who understand and know God.

If we are coming to understand and know God, we will come to know the things that God values. We will value the things God desires, the things that God is passionate about, the things God is pursuing. In fact, we will come to adopt as our own God's desires and see them begin to replace our own natural, world-bound desires. "I am the Lord who exercises" certain things, I do certain things, I prioritize acts that reflect my values and desires. "In these I delight," these are the things I find precious, the things I pursue and desire (Jeremiah 9:24). So what does God desire?

1.  Kindness (Hebrew chesed), loving kindness, benevolence, covenant loyalty, covenant-keeping love. This is a divine quality of love, a pure, self-giving love, based not on feelings or circumstances but rather on a clear, unconditional commitment. In fact, unconditional love is at the center of God's heart and character. God desires and pursues loving kindness in every person and every situation. 

2.  Justice (Hebrew mishpat), judgment, the just decision of a judge, that which is lawful and just, a right protected by law. There is no partiality with God. Fairness, equity, equal treatment and equal rights are central to God's moral character. There is no prejudice, no discrimination in the heart of God. God desires and pursues justice at all times. 

3.  Righteousness (Hebrew tsadaq), to be just and right, to have a just cause, to speak the truth about what is right, to be upright, to make right, to declare someone to be absolved, to make a right cause prevail. As a result of kindness and justice, right conduct in right relationships is God's desire. Doing the right thing because it is the right thing, with the well-being of others and a passion for justice, is God's desire. 

Because God rules in heaven, certainly these three desires can be found there. But through the prophet God declares that he desires them "on earth." God is looking for kindness, justice and righteousness now, in the midst of our sin-diseased world. They are God's desires, God's good "lusts."

So, instead of the "lust of the flesh," God lusts after unconditional love. Instead of the "lust of the eyes," God lusts after justice. Instead of the "pride of life," God seeks after righteousness. If people took time to praise kindness, justice and righteousness instead of intelligence, wealth and power, this world would be a better place. 

Christ-followers, citizens of God's Kingdom here on earth, experience both sets of desires. In fact, the two tend to oppose each other and even war against each other, the battlefield being the redeemed human soul. The good news, our hope, is that God's Spirit is warring on the side of good lusts. "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other.... Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:17, 25). As we learn to take the side of God's Spirit in the struggle, we will see the increasing establishment of God's desires in our hearts and lives. We will learn how to "sow seeds to the Spirit" and reap eternal life - even now, in the midst of the world. God's peace, God's rest, God's freedom will be the growing result. And that is good news!

For my "Spiritual Formation Foundations" class.